present

Syllables: pres·ent/ˈpɹɛz.ənt/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/ˈpɹez.ənt/

present adjective: relating to now, for the time being; current. Also the simple past and past participle of presend.

Adjective

present (comparative more present, superlative most present)

Relating to now, for the time being; current.
- The barbaric practice continues to the present day.
- The present manager has been here longer than the last one.
Located in the immediate vicinity.
- Only half of all present members were present at the meeting.
- Is there a doctor present?
Synonyms:

close
(obsolete) Having an immediate effect (of a medicine, poison etc.); fast-acting.
- Amongſt this number of Cordials and Alteratiues, J doe not find a more preſent remedy, then a cup of wine, or ſtrong drinke, and if it be ſoberly and opportunely vſed.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Alteratiues and Corials, corroborating, reſoluing the reliques, and mending the Temperament”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition...
Synonyms:

presentaneous
(obsolete) Not delayed; immediate; instant.
- Sign me a present pardon for my brother,c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- An ambassador[…]desires a present audience.1636, Philip Massinger, The Bashful Lover
Synonyms:

instantaneous
(dated) Ready; quick in emergency.
- a present wit
(obsolete) Favorably attentive; propitious.
- to find a god so present to my prayer1697, Virgil, “Pastoral 1”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
Relating to something a person is referring to in the very context, with a deictic use similar to the demonstrative adjective this.
- Near-synonyms: this (determiner), this (pronoun), current
- in the present study; the present article; the present results
Synonyms:

this, current
Attentive; alert; focused.
- Sorry, I was distracted just now, I'll try to be more present from now on.
Synonyms:

audient, heedful, reckful
Neither for or against (used in voting to express abstention)

Noun (1)

present (plural presents)

The current moment or period of time.

Synonyms:

now
The present tense.

Noun (2)

present (plural presents)

A gift, especially one given for birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries, graduations, weddings, or any other special occasions.
- wedding present
- birthday present
The position of a soldier in presenting arms.
- The platoon stands at present.
- He was at present near the headquarters gates.
(colloquial, endearing, euphemistic) Poo; feces.
- I think our toddler's just left us a little present in his diaper...
- She has to deal with her cats' presents in the litterboxes on a daily basis, and she doesn't mind one bit.

Verb

UK/pɹɪˈzɛnt/US/pɹɪˈzɛnt/

present (third-person singular simple present presents, present participle presenting, simple past and past participle presented)

To bring (someone) into the presence of (a person); to introduce formally.
- to present an envoy to the king
(intransitive) To appear or represent oneself outwardly.
- With your shabby attire, you do not present well as a prospective investment banking associate!
(transitive) To nominate (a member of the clergy) for an ecclesiastical benefice; to offer to the bishop or ordinary as a candidate for institution.
(transitive) To offer (a problem, complaint) to a court or other authority for consideration.
(archaic, transitive) To charge (a person) with a crime or accusation; to bring before court.
- In the diocese of Gloucester in 1548 two inhabitants of Slimbridge were presented for saying that holy oil was ‘of no virtue but meet to grease sheep’.1971, Sir Keith Vivian Thomas, “3. The Impact of the Reformation”, in Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in popular beliefs in sixteenth and seventeenth century England, 1st edition, London...
(reflexive) To come forward, appear in a particular place or before a particular person, especially formally.
- Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the lord.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 1:6
(transitive) To put (something) forward in order for it to be seen; to show, exhibit.
- So ladies in romance assist their knight, / Present the spear, and arm him for the fight.1712 May, [Alexander Pope], “The Rape of the Locke. An Heroi-comical Poem.”, in Miscellaneous Poems and Translations. […], London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, canto
- Note: The offensive team must present a legal formation both before and after a shift.2020, NFL rule 7 section 4 article 7https://web.archive.org/web/20200610024505/https://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/nfl-video-rulebook/illegal-shift/
(transitive) To make clear to one's mind or intelligence; to put forward for consideration.
- I do begin to realize that the matter must be presented in such a way as may interest the reader.1927, Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, “II. The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier”, in The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, published 1927, →OCLC, page 49
- Libertarian paternalism is the view that, because the way options are presented to citizens affects what they choose, society should present options in a way that “nudges” our intuitive selves to make choices that are more consistent with what our more deliberative selves would have chosen if they...2012 January, Steven Sloman, “The Battle Between Intuition and Deliberation”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 08 Jan 2012, page 74
(transitive) To put on, stage (a play etc.).
- The theater is proud to present the Fearless Fliers.
(transitive) To point (a firearm) at something, to hold (a weapon) in a position ready to fire.
(reflexive) To offer oneself for mental consideration; to occur to the mind.
- Well, one idea does present itself.
(intransitive) To come to the attention of medical staff, especially with a specific symptom.
- The patient presented with insomnia.
- Symptoms typically present in early childhood.

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(intransitive) To appear (in a specific way) for delivery (of a fetus); to appear first at the mouth of the uterus during childbirth.
(intransitive) To appear or represent oneself (as having a certain gender).
- At that time, Elbe was presenting as a man.
- In May 2019, a case was referred to the high court in which social workers for Lancashire county council had sought orders against the parents of two trans children to take the children into care. Social services were alerted when H, the couple’s three-year-old foster child, born male, had gone...August 24 2021, Shon Faye, “‘I feel like it’s quite shaky acceptance’: trans kids and the fight for inclusion”, in The Guardian
(transitive) To act as presenter on (a radio, television programme etc.).
- Anne Robinson presents "The Weakest Link".
(transitive) To give a gift or presentation to (someone).
- She was presented with an honorary degree for her services to entertainment.
- Live thou, and reign, forever, glorious Lord! / My last, least off’ring, I present thee now— / Renounce me, leave me, and be still ador’d! / Slay me, my God, and I applaud the blow.1980, William Cowper, “The Vicissitudes Experienced in a Christian Life”, in Baird, John D., Ryskamp, Charles, editors, The poems of William Cowper (Cantique; 69), revised edition, volume 3, quoted...
Synonyms:

compliment, bestow
(transitive) To deliver (something abstract) as though as a gift; to offer.
- I presented my compliments to Lady Featherstoneshaw.
(transitive) To hand over (a bill etc.) to be paid.
(intransitive) To display one's female genitalia in a way that signals to others that one is ready for copulation. Also referred to as lordosis behaviour.
(slang) In omegaverse fiction, to have one's secondary sex (alpha, omega, or beta) become apparent, typically at puberty.
- Sherlock’s gender performance itself remains unchanged, with the exception of the hormonal changes he goes through after presenting as an omega.2018, Ninna Ilias, "Reimagining Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Gender Performativity", thesis submitted to Radboud University, page 59
- People “present” their secondary genders during puberty, so girls and boys are raised without knowing if they will be alphas, betas, or omegas.2019, Tessa Baron, "Just Go Find Yourself a Nice Alpha: Gender and Consent in Supernatural Fandom's Alpha/Beta/Omega Universe", thesis submitted to Oregon State University, page 17

Also used as

present is also the simple past and past participle of presend.

present meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

present in Hindi

pertaining to the current time: वर्तमान vartamān, उपस्थित upasthit, हाज़िर hāzir, मौजूद maujūd
in the immediate vicinity: वर्तमान vartamān, हाज़िर hāzir, उपस्थित upasthit
current time: वर्तमान vartamān
to put (something) forward in order for it to be seen; to show, exhibit: पेश करना peś karnā

present in Marathi

pertaining to the current time: उपस्थित upasthit, हजर haj̈ar
in the immediate vicinity: उपस्थित upasthit, हजर haj̈ar

present in Urdu

in the immediate vicinity: حاضِر hāzir, اُپَسْتِھت upasthit
current time: عَہْدِ حاضِر 'ahd-i hāzir, حال hāl

More languagesFewer languages

present in Bengali: পেশ করা peś kora
present in Malayalam: സമ്മാനിക്കുക sammānikkuka
present in Kannada: ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತಪಡಿಸಲು, ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತ ಪಡಿಸಲು
present in Punjabi: ਹਾਦਰ hādar, ਹਾਜ਼ਰ hāzar, ਮੌਜੂਦ maujūd
present in Gujarati: હાજર, રજૂ કરવા
present in Odia: ଉପସ୍ଥିତ, ଉପସ୍ଥାପନ କରିବା, ଉପସ୍ଥାପନା କରିବା
present in Sinhala: වර්තමානය wartamānaya
present in Nepali: प्रस्तुत गर्ने
present in Tagalog: kasalukuyan, ngayon
present in Arabic: حَالِيّ ḥāliyy, حَاضِر ḥāḍir, مَوْجُود mawjūd, الزَّمَان az-zamān
present in Malay: kini
present in Indonesian: mempersembahkan, memperkenalkan
present in Persian: نمایاندن namâyândan, ارائه کردن erâ'e kardan
present in Thai: ประจุบัน bprà-jù-ban, ปัจจุบัน bpàt-jù-ban, สมัยใหม่ sà-mǎi-mài, นำเสนอ nam-sà-nə̌ə
present in Vietnamese: hiện tại, có mặt, hiện diện, trình bày
present in Myanmar: ယခု ya.hku., ပစ္စက္ခ paccakhka., ပစ္စုပ္ပန် paccuppan, အခု a.hku.

Examples of present in a sentence

up to the present day
Several people were present when the event took place.
Being the leader, Jason is always present at class.
Oh! Thank you for the presents! How considerate of you!
Only his friends attended his birthday party. They're all broke, so he got no present.
In the present connexion […] such talk had been distressingly out of place.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

All 40 example sentences with present

Synonyms of present

7 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of present

Forms of present

Adjective
comparative	more present
superlative	most present
alternative abbreviation	ps.
alternative form (archaic)	præsent
Noun
plural	presents
Verb
third-person singular present	presents
present participle	presenting
past participle	presented
past	presented

Past tense of present: presented

Plural of present: presents

Origin of present

From Middle English present, from Old French present, from Latin praesent-, praesens, present participle of praeesse (“to be present”), from Latin prae- (“pre-”) + esse (“to be”). Displaced Old English andweard (“present, current”).

From Middle English presenten, from Old French presenter, from Latin praesentāre (“to show”), from praesent-, praesens, present participle of praeesse (“be in front of”).

From presend + -t.

Words formed from present

Phrases with present

3 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with present

Questions about present

What does present mean?: Present means relating to now, for the time being; current.
What is present in Hindi?: Present in Hindi is वर्तमान (vartamān), उपस्थित (upasthit), हाज़िर (hāzir). See Present meaning in Hindi.
How do you use present in a sentence?: up to the present day
What part of speech is present?: Present can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce present?: Present is pronounced /ˈpɹɛz.ənt/ (UK).

Words near present in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: present (page history and authors); present (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); present (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); present (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); present (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); present (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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Cite this entry: “present.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/present. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.